Chicken and Swiss Chard Tacos | Tacos de pollo deshebrado y acelga

Since arriving in Mexico I’ve had so many new ingredients to try out. Some are ones I never cooked with but remember from my childhood, and others are ones I have never tasted before. Swiss chard is one such ingredient. I had heard about it on many food blogs but never came across it when I lived in Prague. Actually, when I purchased my first bunch here a couple of weeks ago I had no idea what it was until I got home and Googled the name in Spanish. Of course I was super excited to finally have Swiss chard available.

Swiss chard is a long leaf green vegetable that can also come in a colourful variety called rainbow chard. It is believed to be among the healthiest vegetables available because it is high in dietary fibre, protein, high in minerals and in vitamins a, k and c. Chard may be eaten raw, like in salads, or cooked like other green leaf vegetables. In it’s raw state the taste is a tad tart but it fades with cooking and becomes very mild. This vegetable is great simply sautéed or along with any other ingredients.

The first few times I bought chard I just sautéed it with a little bit of olive oil, fine sea salt and a pinch of black pepper. It’s delicious just like this and makes a super healthy side-dish. This last time I wanted to incorporate the chard with some leftover boiled chicken that needed using up. Below is the very simple recipe.

After cleaning the chard trim off the white stalk bottoms and discard them. Next slice the leaves into thin strips and set aside. Heat the oil and once warm sauté the onion slices until soft, add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes or until soft. Next add the shredded chicken, sliced chard and cumin, pepper and salt. Allow the chard to wilt and give the ingredients a good stir. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve on top of warm corn tortillas and toppings of choice.

Notes

*I used leftover boiled chicken, you can of course use raw skinless chicken breast. If you do use raw chicken make sure to cook it through before adding the chard. You'll also want to chop it up into small bite-size pieces.

The prep and cook times given here are if you are also using leftover boiled chicken. If having to cook the chicken then the prep and cooking time will be longer.

!Variations: If you would like to make this a vegan or vegetarian meal, replace the chicken with potatoes or mushrooms or even beans.

These tacos tasted fantastic! They may not be typical or traditional tacos but they sure do pack a lot of flavour and nutrition. You can also turn the recipe into a vegetarian/vegan meal so make sure to read through the notes. We ate our tacos just like this, no salsa and no cheese needed — thought I think a touch of salty queso fresco or feta would be a great addition.

I love Swiss chard! And we usually grow it in our garden. It substitutes nicely for spinach in Indian dishes, and there are loads of Italian dishes that use it (it’s wonderful as a ravioli filling). Never had it in a taco, though. But I will. ;-) Good stuff – thanks.

Nancy, I love this swiss chard tacos. For a long time I’ve been thinking of ways to include swiss chard or rainbow chard in cooking which my kids are willing eat eat. Tacos are really really great, and with additional cheese (never tried queso fresco before, but will check…), kids will enjoy this meal. It’s fabulous indeed. Trying to eat light and healthy these days, and I just landed on the right post today! :D Thanks for your wonderful recipe!

I have a feeling that my earlier comment didn’t go through… my computer froze and now I see empty box. Anyway, I was telling how excited I am with this recipe. I wanted to incorporate swiss chard or rainbow chard in my cooking, but with lack of creativity (trying to put in Japanese recipes), I haven’t been successful with the kids. This is going to be a winner. With additional cheese, they will really enjoy this healthy delicious tacos. Will try this very soon!

I can’t wait to see what else you do with Swiss chard now that you have discovered it! Along with Bok Chow, it’s our favorite leafy green vegetable. I thought I had put it in everything until now. :) Love the idea of putting it tacos! I used spinach in tacos but never Swiss chard. What a great idea and what beautiful tacos. Homemade tortillas – obviously. ;)